#SignsYoureASuperhero Was Briefly Fun Before Racists Attacked

Twitter is often the breeding ground for fun, hashtag-driven diversions that allow people who use the social media platform to partake in a collective joke. The current hashtag mania appears to be one called #SignsYoureASuperhero, or if you’re a brand, #SignsYouAreASuperhero. Unfortunately, it’s outstayed its welcome, quickly becoming flooded with both brands and white supremacists.

#SignsYoureASuperhero appeared seemingly out of the blue, but people jumped on it at rapid speed. Strangely enough, what began as a fun way to transform one’s everyday habits into a superhero tick, the hashtag has become weirdly political, with Trump-supporters flooding the hashtag to stage blatantly gross statements.

In fact, looking up the hahstag on Twitter now breaks down like this: Brands who use the hashtag to promote their product as some kind of symbol for heroics, people who are using the hashtag earnestly to mild effect, and white supremacists trying to justify themselves as superheroes.

Here’s the earliest tweet which captures the sort of humor the hashtag was going for.

As the hashtag climbs the trending list of Twitter activity in the United States, these tweets from white supremacists will probably continue to grow. And more than anything, it’s interesting to see good-natured social media transform rapidly into a kind of slaughterhouse, further highlighting Twitter’s continued problem with curtailing hateful activity on its platform.